With Dion Waiters facing third team-issued suspension, what’s next for Heat and Waiters?
Entering the season, guard Dion Waiters was competing for a spot in the Heat’s starting lineup. Two months in, Waiters is facing his third team-issued suspension of the season.
In a statement released late Thursday night, the Heat announced that Waiters “has been suspended without pay for his failure to adhere to team policies, violation of team rules and continued insubordination.” Waiters’ suspension begins immediately with Friday’s home matchup against the Lakers and will last for six games, as he’ll be eligible to return after the Heat’s Dec. 23 home game against the Jazz.
Among the three suspensions, Waiters has been suspended for 17 games this season. He has yet to play this regular season and has been active for just four games.
Waiters was suspended for the first game of the season, for what the team called unprofessional conduct — including complaining on the bench during the Heat’s preseason finale and refusing to do one mandatory weigh-in. Then he served a 10-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, with that suspension ending after the conclusion of the Heat’s Nov. 29 game against the Warriors.
The recently completed 10-game suspension was related to a series of events involving Waiters that began with complaining about playing time in the preseason, continued with social media shots directed at Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and teammate Tyler Herro and it culminated with an alarming medical situation involving Waiters on the Heat’s flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles on the night of Nov. 7, a source told the Miami Herald.
With the new six-game punishment added in, Waiters has lost about $1.4 million in salary this season because of the three suspensions. That does not include the $1.2 million bonus Waiters missed out on for appearing in at least 70 of Miami’s 82 games.
Although the possibility of Waiters achieving the bonus has been ruled out, the Heat will not receive $1.2 million in cap relief under the hard cap. Bonuses are not calculated until the end of the season even if the requirements are not met during the season.
The salary Waiters has lost because of suspensions does not translate into cap relief for the Heat either. Miami still doesn’t have enough space below the $138.9 million hard cap to add a 15th player until 10-day contracts are allowed to be signed on Jan. 5.
Waiters, who turned 28 on Tuesday, is in the third season of a four-year, $52 million contract he signed with the Heat in the summer of 2017. He has been off limits by the Heat for comment since his initial suspension at the beginning of the regular season.
If Waiters is unable to make it work in Miami when he returns from his latest suspension, what’s next for him and the Heat? A look at the possibilities, and why there isn’t one that’s perfect for both sides ...
▪ Voiding Waiters’ contract would be hard to pull off, and there is no evidence this scenario has even been explored by the Heat. According to Sports Illustrated legal analyst Michael McCann, “if Waiters continues to engage in conduct detrimental, the team could invoke Paragraph 16 of the uniform player contract. Paragraph 16 authorizes a team to sever a contract if the player fails to ‘conform his personal conduct to standards of good citizenship, good moral character, and good sportsmanship’ or neglects to ‘keep himself in first-class physical condition.’”
Any attempt to void Waiters’ contract would start a legal battle with the National Basketball Players Association, which doesn’t want to allow a precedent for guaranteed contracts losing their guarantee.
▪ Another option for the Heat is to simply release Waiters, but it puts the team in a complicated situation that makes it unlikely at the moment. Not only would Waiters’ $12.1 million cap hit for this season and $12.7 million cap hit for 2020-21 still count against the Heat’s salary cap, but Miami would be forced to replace Waiters’ roster spot because his release would leave just 13 players under standard contract.
By league rule, the Heat would be required to add a 14th player under a standard contract no later than 14 days after dropping to 13. The issue is the Heat currently doesn’t have enough space below the $138.9 million hard cap to add a 14th player until 10-day contracts are allowed to be signed on Jan. 5, a league official confirmed to the Miami Herald.
That means if the Heat released Waiters before it could replace his roster spot with a 10-day contract player, Miami would be forced to make an additional move to shed enough money under the hard cap to sign a 14th player.
But the Heat will have enough room under the hard cap to convert big man Chris Silva’s two-way contract to a standard NBA contract starting Jan. 14, which could open the door for the possibility of waiving Waiters in early January. Although, again, the Heat would have to be willing to eat the remaining $25 million on Waiters’ contract to make such a move.
▪ Using the “stretch provision” to waive Waiters is another possible way to cut ties, but it’s certainly not likely. By stretching Waiters’ contract, his cap hit for this season would remain at $12.1 million, but his $12.7 million cap hit for 2020-21 would be stretched to an annual $4.23 million cap in each of the next three seasons (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23). Operating with Waiters’ cap hit on the books until 2023 wouldn’t be ideal for the Heat.
▪ A contract buyout is an option, but Waiters has little incentive to give up money as part of a buyout agreement. Waiters is set to be paid about $25 million over the remaining two seasons (this season and next season) of his deal, and it could be challenging for him to recoup sacrificed money.
▪ Trading Waiters would seem unlikely at this point, too, considering he’s already serving his third team-issued suspension of the season and has two seasons remaining on his contract. The most realistic way to deal Waiters is if the Heat attaches an asset to its trade package to entice a team or takes on a longer contract that would eat into 2021 cap space, and both seem to be scenarios Miami will try to avoid.
The Heat can also wait until next season to find a suitor for Waiters, when he could hold more trade value as an expiring contract.
▪ Of course, the Heat and Waiters can also come to a mutual agreement that it’s best if Waiters steps away from the team while still being paid for the remainder of his contract until he hits free agency in 2021. But Waiters and his representatives would need to be accepting of this proposal for this to be a realistic option.
The Cavaliers and guard J.R. Smith came to this type of agreement last season because he wasn’t happy with his role and Cleveland didn’t want him to be a negative influence on their young players. Smith was eventually waived by the Cavaliers this past summer.
